1981 Lotus Eclat 2.2
Discussion
Electrical mayhem :
Mechanic says -
For Lotus I found the following issues today in dashboard area:
* Wiper motor worm wire cable has been fitted without shortening (i.e.
is from a car which had 2 wiper mech's). Therefore the excess cable
is moving back & forth at the top of the inside of dash, rubbing
away the fibreglass, and also is a big fiore hazard as is rubbing
away on a main wiring loom! Need to shorten this cable, and hoping
it will reduce the friction & speed up the motor a bit. May also be
causing it to jam occasionally.
* Wiper module is fitted to this model, it doesn't match the Excel
manual (which shows a more basic non-module system), so I need to
check this further. Although wipers do work most of the time, they
fail to park correctly even though a new park switch is now in place.
* Wiper stalk fails to wash screen as you know. Hopefully can restore
stalk to full working condition.
* Ignition switch is almost worn out. It fails to hold in position II
(as already mentioned). May be time for a new switch? Need to find
what was fitted to these, looks like other Lotus models used the GT6
as a donor.
* Both engine bay fuseboxes have had overheating issues. The terminals
are riveted but said overheating has caused the terminals to work
loose. 2 New ones on order. had to replace 2 wire connectors on the
back of these today which has stopped two intermittent open circuits.
* Ordered a new fibre optic sender as Rimmers doing a great deal on
these. Old one had flaked silver reflective paint. Will mod using
bright LED bulb instead as already mentioned.
* Interior lamp inop with door open - appears to be faulty switches -
power is getting to them. Will try to source
* Heater flaps inop for console vents. Can see system relies on vacuum
tubes - will trace source of fault next visit.
* Radio wiring pretty terrible, can rewire & make good unless you have
another in mind.
* Cooling fans in engine bay cut in and at same time there's a relay
clicking a few times in pedal area. Need to check this as might be
reason for fan fail light problem.
* Heater fan now ok - was one of the feed wires on the back of dodgy
fusebox.
* Heater speed switch is incorrect - hence no way to fit heater knobs.
SJ sportscars got back to me but have no stock....searching for
alternative supply.
* Foglamp switch bulb replaced, now illuminates when on
* Top left two switches on console aren't wired up. One is blank and
has purple light, other is "Int. Lamp".
Mechanic says -
For Lotus I found the following issues today in dashboard area:
* Wiper motor worm wire cable has been fitted without shortening (i.e.
is from a car which had 2 wiper mech's). Therefore the excess cable
is moving back & forth at the top of the inside of dash, rubbing
away the fibreglass, and also is a big fiore hazard as is rubbing
away on a main wiring loom! Need to shorten this cable, and hoping
it will reduce the friction & speed up the motor a bit. May also be
causing it to jam occasionally.
* Wiper module is fitted to this model, it doesn't match the Excel
manual (which shows a more basic non-module system), so I need to
check this further. Although wipers do work most of the time, they
fail to park correctly even though a new park switch is now in place.
* Wiper stalk fails to wash screen as you know. Hopefully can restore
stalk to full working condition.
* Ignition switch is almost worn out. It fails to hold in position II
(as already mentioned). May be time for a new switch? Need to find
what was fitted to these, looks like other Lotus models used the GT6
as a donor.
* Both engine bay fuseboxes have had overheating issues. The terminals
are riveted but said overheating has caused the terminals to work
loose. 2 New ones on order. had to replace 2 wire connectors on the
back of these today which has stopped two intermittent open circuits.
* Ordered a new fibre optic sender as Rimmers doing a great deal on
these. Old one had flaked silver reflective paint. Will mod using
bright LED bulb instead as already mentioned.
* Interior lamp inop with door open - appears to be faulty switches -
power is getting to them. Will try to source
* Heater flaps inop for console vents. Can see system relies on vacuum
tubes - will trace source of fault next visit.
* Radio wiring pretty terrible, can rewire & make good unless you have
another in mind.
* Cooling fans in engine bay cut in and at same time there's a relay
clicking a few times in pedal area. Need to check this as might be
reason for fan fail light problem.
* Heater fan now ok - was one of the feed wires on the back of dodgy
fusebox.
* Heater speed switch is incorrect - hence no way to fit heater knobs.
SJ sportscars got back to me but have no stock....searching for
alternative supply.
* Foglamp switch bulb replaced, now illuminates when on
* Top left two switches on console aren't wired up. One is blank and
has purple light, other is "Int. Lamp".
Mech update:-
Good bit of progress today on Lotus, the new ign. switch is 100% better and positive key position restored. Top fusebox replaced & new terminals fitted to all necessary wires on new ign switch & fusebox. Absolute pig of a job! Wiper arm parks now correctly. Traced burnt fusebox to previous wiper motor failure as someone left a trace of repairs to prevent repeat. Have restored wiring to original as much as possible. Shame they left dodgy fusebox in though! It was causing an intermittent feed to about 5 circuits.
I cut down the wiper mech cable and sheathed remainder in heatshrink tube, now no electrical hazard and wiper quiet & smooth. Still need to sort washer part of wiper switch next visit.
Switch fibre optics still needs further mods today with LED looking good so far.
Fusebox also likely the cause of other gremlins, work to continue on Thurs. to fit new lower fusebox. All in all it’s just years of quick fixes that gave caused tge problems, but it’s been a pleasure to work on. Much better quality than old and even 90’s TVRs & some nice design work has gone into this car.
Good bit of progress today on Lotus, the new ign. switch is 100% better and positive key position restored. Top fusebox replaced & new terminals fitted to all necessary wires on new ign switch & fusebox. Absolute pig of a job! Wiper arm parks now correctly. Traced burnt fusebox to previous wiper motor failure as someone left a trace of repairs to prevent repeat. Have restored wiring to original as much as possible. Shame they left dodgy fusebox in though! It was causing an intermittent feed to about 5 circuits.
I cut down the wiper mech cable and sheathed remainder in heatshrink tube, now no electrical hazard and wiper quiet & smooth. Still need to sort washer part of wiper switch next visit.
Switch fibre optics still needs further mods today with LED looking good so far.
Fusebox also likely the cause of other gremlins, work to continue on Thurs. to fit new lower fusebox. All in all it’s just years of quick fixes that gave caused tge problems, but it’s been a pleasure to work on. Much better quality than old and even 90’s TVRs & some nice design work has gone into this car.
Ahhhh memories memories..I had one of these from 1993-1994....It was a bright red 1983 2.2 Excel. In many ways one of the best cars I owned and in actually sadly more ways one of the worst cars I ever owned. Mine had the original Toyota Supra bottom end, Lotus Head and all of the Toyota Supra running gear (clutch, rear axle, gearbox) etc
The push rod that operates the clutch used to let go regularly, damn delorto carbs were impossible to keep tuned and it had plenty of engine gremlins. I was often found pushing it down the road
much to the amusement of my mates. Yet for that, it was amazing when it worked (which was seldom) and I had some very interesting dust ups in it with stuff that was supposed to be a lot quicker. The comment about it feeling stable at higher speeds is oddly true. I was once doing a hundred and plenty in it and I remarked at how much more stable it felt, which is odd from quite a light car.
The thing I also remember was the utterly useless turning circle it had...19 point turns quite normal. You couldn't turn the wheel whilst stationary or it just dragged the front wheels along and did nothing at all
Mine was totally resprayed and all the wheels re-done. It looked epic when it was done. I also remember hunting round the scrappy's for a sunroof motor for a TR7 as it was the same as motor for the front pop up head lights. Rear lights as said Rover V8 SD1 upside down. The trick before replacing them was to silicon up the drain holes as they were the other way up, or they filled up nicely with water and acted ike a nice aquarium
The push rod that operates the clutch used to let go regularly, damn delorto carbs were impossible to keep tuned and it had plenty of engine gremlins. I was often found pushing it down the road
much to the amusement of my mates. Yet for that, it was amazing when it worked (which was seldom) and I had some very interesting dust ups in it with stuff that was supposed to be a lot quicker. The comment about it feeling stable at higher speeds is oddly true. I was once doing a hundred and plenty in it and I remarked at how much more stable it felt, which is odd from quite a light car. The thing I also remember was the utterly useless turning circle it had...19 point turns quite normal. You couldn't turn the wheel whilst stationary or it just dragged the front wheels along and did nothing at all
Mine was totally resprayed and all the wheels re-done. It looked epic when it was done. I also remember hunting round the scrappy's for a sunroof motor for a TR7 as it was the same as motor for the front pop up head lights. Rear lights as said Rover V8 SD1 upside down. The trick before replacing them was to silicon up the drain holes as they were the other way up, or they filled up nicely with water and acted ike a nice aquarium
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